Best Birthday Ever
by NintendoGal55
Summary: Twilight Princess one-shot. It's Link's birthday, but he's forgotten about it. Midna knows, so she takes it upon herself to give him a little birthday fun. LinkxMidna


It was Link's birthday, but at this time, Link had no time to really think about it. The adventure he'd been through had not only worn him out considerably, but he still had a few tasks ahead of him to complete. Saving Zelda, defeating Ganondorf, finding the rest of the Poes to save Jiovani, finding the rest of the Golden Bugs for Princess Agitha, and bringing Shad to the City in the Sky for a first hand experience with the Oocca.

Although Link forgot, or didn't think about his birthday, someone sure did. That's right, of all people, Midna did.

Over the past few months, the two of them had gotten to know each other more and became good friends between their adventures to the various temples in order to retrieve the three Fused Shadow pieces and the four Mirror of Twilight shards. So it was only natural that Midna decided to take a moment and remember her friend and companion's own birthday.

She had spent the whole day preparing for it, and let Link have a nap since it had also been a long day for poor Link too.

"Link! Hey! Helloooooo?" Midna sang out to the dozing boy. "Hey! Wake up!" She kicked him lightly.

Snorting lightly, Link opened his eyes and looked at the imp. He had taken a snooze and didn't realize he'd fallen complete asleep. He didn't talk a lot, but with Midna, he was a chatterbox. "...Midna? Wha...?"

"Oh good, you're awake. Get up, we're going out for dinner." Midna stated.

"W-what?" Link sat up and stared at her, confused.

"Did I stutter or something? C'mon! We're going out for dinner." Midna repeated, rolling her eyes.

"...Oh, okay. What for?"

"Just get up and let's go."

Link nodded, getting up from where he'd been laying and stretched a bit, taking his floppy, green cone-shapped hat and putting it on. He never understood why his ancestor, the Hero of Time, wore such a silly hat. He understood the tunic and other things, but the hat? It made no sense, and yet it completed the ensemble.

Since the moment he saw himself wearing the tunic when he'd first awakened from being a wolf, he felt it was right to wear them and felt naked without them. He really liked it.

"Finally! Now let's go!" Midna warped them to Kakariko Village. A new restaurant had opened up there recently when a restaurant owner moved there after his old one burned down back where he came from.

Link and Midna had tried it once, while they were back in Kakariko helping to restore Ilia's memory and achieve the means they needed to get the Sky Cannon. Although Midna wasn't used to food in the light realm, she really liked the food and Link did too, so they made a note to go back there sometime when they had time.

The owner of the place also had a hard time having it built and needed help, so Link had gone to get the Gorons to help out, and naturally, they never refused a request from Link so they went to help no problem. Even the children of Ordon, who were still there, pitched in and lended a hand.

"We're going to Restaurant Kakariko?" Link asked, eager at the idea.

"Duh. Why else would we be here?" Midna said incredelously, leading the way toward the restaurant. It was located on the hill behind Barnes' Bomb shop, where the storehouse used to be.

"Wait, aren't you going to hide in my shadow?" Link asked.

"...No, not this time. Can't let you have all the fun with the food, can I?" Midna grinned impishly.

Link smiled back. "Well, okay. If you say so."

They went Barnes' shop, came out the back door and going to the restaurant. Besides the owner, whose name was Kohiro, a few Gorons helped run the place and cook the meals.

"Hey, brother! Welcome to Restaurant Kakariko!" A Goron cajoled as Link and Midna came in.

"Table for two, please." Midna said.

"Of course! Anything for brother Link and you too, sister!" The Goron led them to a small table near the back, placing a couple of menus on the table.

Link pulled back a chair, gesturing for Midna to sit down. She blushed a bit, surprised at the polite gesture. She sat in the chair, feeling Link push it in for her.

"Thanks." She managed.

"You're welcome." Link smiled, going to sit in his own seat.

"Care for something to drink?" Asked the Goron waiter.

"I'll have some water." Midna said.

"Me too." Link agreed.

"Great! I'll be right back." The Goron nodded, going to the kitchen.

Link shifted in his seat a little, looking at his menu. He then glanced at the imp sitting across from him. "Midna...what made you decide this?"

Midna looked up from her menu, and shrugged. "Oh, you know. We've been through a lot lately and I think we deserve a little time to reward ourselves. Besides, I wanted to eat something different than what we usually eat."

"Ah." Link nodded, smiling a bit. "Well it was a good idea."

"Of course it was, I thought of it."

"You keep saying that, my little imp."

Midna blushed a bit at the pet name. Although she hated being called an imp, hearing it from Link was different since it was said with affection, a term of endearment.

After all, she called him "my wolf" sometimes.

The Goron waiter came back with two glasses of cool water and placed them on the table. The two of them thanked him and then he gave them a few more minutes to decide what they wanted to order.

"What are you thinking of, Midna?" Link asked her.

Midna shrugged, her eye scanning the menu. "Not really sure. I can't decide between the roast cuckoo medallions with a side of veggies, or the stuffed peppers brazed in carrots and boar meat....or the specials on the menu."

Link chuckled. "You women are so indecisive."

"Hey, come on! When you like more than one dish, it's not that easy!" Midna retorted, pouting.

"Oh contraire, I'm going to have....." Link glanced at the menu again, and was now unsure of what he wanted. Everything looked delicious, he just couldn't decide.

Midna smirked. "You were saying?"

".....Never mind." Link sighed.

After a few minutes, the two of them decided and called the Goron back. Link decided to order a cuckoo salad sandwich with a side of Kakariko noodles, and Midna settled on a salad with grilled cuckoo medallions brazed in a pepper corn sauce, one of the main specials. The Goron waiter jotted down their orders and headed back to the kitchen.

While the two friends waited, they chatted a bit about random subjects, and were pleasantly absorbed in each other's company.

"No way! You didn't!" Midna laughed.

"I did!" Link grinned. "Rusl gave me a good lecture about that afterward, and I learned my lesson. Still, I was six and I had no idea it was such a vulgar word!"

"I guess you should've, if it wasn't in your vocabulary!"

"True, but not all the time."

"What else happened?"

"Ilia admonished me again, saying I was such a pig and needed my mouth washed out with soap."

"Jeez. I thought she was so sweet and nice."

"She is, she just puts on the angry girl act to look tough and be intimidating. I tried once to stand up to her and let her know that I wasn't going to take it, and she got really mad and slapped me."

"I don't blame her. When we're challenged like that, it makes us even more mad."

"Midna! You're supposed to be on my side!"

"I am on your side, doofus. I'm just saying it's true. I'm sure your girlfriend will get over it."

"...Um...well...about that..." Link looked away.

"What?" Midna asked, confused.

"...Ilia and I aren't together."

"You're not?"

"No. I mean, I had a crush on her for a while, but I realized that it was just puppy love."

"...Puppy love?"

"A crush, the hots, nothing more."

"Ohhh! You mean infatuation."

"Yeah, exactly. Everyone kind of thinks we are, and they want us together, but I just don't love her like that. She's like a sister to me, and a close friend, but that's it. I have a feeling she likes me, but I just don't. Now I know why she loved all my Valentines."

Midna raised an eyebrow. "Your what now?"

"Valentines."

"And that is...?"

"Gifts you give on Valentines Day."

Midna stared at him blankly.

"...You don't know about Valentine's Day?" Link asked, incredelous.

"Noooo. I don't know a lot of things that you Light Dwellers have. What is it anyway?"

"Well...um, it's a day about love."

"....Love? You have a Holiday for LOVE?"

"Yeah. Don't you?"

"Kind of. In my realm, we have a holiday called Krelakshik Eve, where we slap each other on the face as a way of showing affection when you weren't married to your love. When you were married, you pushed your mate and then they push you back."

Link snorted. "You SLAP each other on the face or push each other? That's kind of weird. Don't you kiss or hug?"

"Of course we do. But on Krelakshik Eve, you have to show your affection through other actions." Midna replied.

"What do you on birthdays? Kick each other in the groin?"

Midna laughed. "Ee hee hee hee! No silly! We do it...well, that's up to them, we don't set customs for that."

"Oh! Oh, okay." Link chuckled. "What other holidays do you have?"

"We don't have a lot, but there's a few. We have Morkmanya Day, which is a day that all the workers get the entire day off. Hyyeshin Day, which is the day that was set to be a new year, Pariuselum which is a day that represents the greatness and hard work of parents, and Koroven Mikyaniye, a day for the children and we give them presents if they've been good. And Twilight Hiiremashin, which is....well, we also call it Twilight Day. It's a big, shadow celebration of all the Twili, to celebrate our lives and have fun." Midna began digging into her foot as the waiter placed it down for them.

"Wow, they sound interesting." Link nodded, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"They are." Midna swallowed. "What about you guys?"

"It depends what part of the world you're in, since many places have different holidays and customs. In Hyrule, we celebrate New Year's, Valentines Day, Hyrule Week, and the Holiday of the Great Giving, which we call, Great Giving. And of course, birthdays."

"Well! Looks like you Light Dwellers aren't so different."

"Maybe, maybe not."

Midna giggled and Link smiled.

They continued to eat their food and chat a bit more. Needless to say, they were having a lot of fun. For dessert, they shared what was called a Couple's Cake. It was really good.

"Thanks for coming brother and sister!" The Goron waiter grinned, placing the bill on the table. "Come again!"

Link took the bill and took out his wallet to pay, but Midna stopped him.

"What are you doing?" Link asked as she took out some ruppees from where she stored them in her Fused Shadow helm.

"I'm paying, of course." Midna replied, placing the ruppees on the table, along with a blue ruppee for a tip.

"Where did you get the money?" Link asked.

"We use rupees in my realm too." Midna grinned. "We have the same currency, but the colours correspond differently with the amount. And we also have the barter system if you're poor."

"Oh." Link nodded. "Are you sure, though?"

"I'm the Twilight Princess, Link. I have more than enough for us to have dinner every night for the rest of our lives!"

"...Really?"

Midna grinned impishly as they left the joint. "You got it."

"Wow." Link uttered, shaking his head as he followed her out.

"All right, we're going to Lake Hylia now!" Midna said, readying to warp them.

"Huh? Why?" Link asked, puzzled.

Midna giggled. "You'll see! C'mon!"

She warped them to Lake Hylia. It was now the hour of twilight, and it was lovely to see at the lake. Midna led Link to the dock that was located near the waterfall that led up river. A larger, more luxurious-looking canoe was tied to the dock.

"I thought we'd ride on the water a bit." Midna smiled.

"Midna...you...how did you get this?" Link asked, astonished.

"I went to Iza and asked her for it. She started renting luxury boats for couples to take on the lake. I used an illusionary spell, pretending to be you and got this for you."

Link couldn't help but smile sweetly. "Midna, really, this is so nice of you. But why?"

"It's your birthday, dummy!" Midna exclaimed. "I can't believe you forgot! You didn't catch my hints?"

"...No, I didn't." Link blushed. "Midna, you really did all this?"

"Not just that. Now get in the boat!"

Link laughed and then stepped to the dock, climbing into the boat. Midna came in after him and untied the line. Link took the oar and guided the boat along the water, before settling and just sitting there with Midna in the boat.

"Here."

"Huh?" Link looked up to see Midna handing him a box. It was black, with Twili markings. "That's for me?"

"No, it's for Zant. Of course it's for you! Now open it!" Midna ordered, blushing.

Chuckling, Link took the box and opened it. Inside was a necklace on a thin, silver chain. The small pendant was a small, enclosed photo of the two of them that Link took with his pictograph box. Link stared with astonishment, surprised she'd kept the photo.

"You...you kept the photo?"

"Yes." Midna blushed. "I had it made into a necklace for you. ....I have another framed in my room."

Link smiled happily, slipping it on around his neck. "Thank you Midna. I...I..."

"Don't mention it. I had to do something for your birthday, didn't I? You sure didn't." Midna said, blushing some more. "I just...I wanted to...."

"Midna, c'mere." Link said, gesturing to his lap.

Puzzled, Midna went over and perched onto his lap. Link smiled at her lovingly, reaching out to gently caress her cheek. The action made her blush and look away a bit. The Hero gently held her chin, lifting her head to meet his gaze. He leaned down a bit, and kissed her.

Midna's eye widened, nearly bulging as his lips touched hers. It sent a jolt of electricity through her, and she decided she liked it. She hadn't expected this, but she didn't care.

Her tiny arms went around his neck and she kissed him back. Link brought his arms around her tiny body, bringing her closer.

After a moment, Link pulled back and smiled at her, his eyes shining with pure love and adoration.

"I love you Midna, I love you so much. Thank you, for everything."

Midna's heart skipped a beat as she felt sheer happiness course through her, something she hadn't felt in such a long time. She had been in love with Link for some time, and was so sure he didn't return the feelings. Not since the way she treated him at first and all that. She didn't know what she did to deserve being loved by such a wonderful man, but it was true.

For the first time in so long, Midna cried. But it was tears of joy.

"Link...I love you too." Midna cuddled into him. "Happy Birthday."

Link hugged her to him, stroking her hair lovingly as he smiled. It was definitely his best birthday ever.


End file.
